Ophan and the Throne of God
by GLuisa88
Summary: Ophan. That's a name Dean and Sam should remember but they don't and it could cost them not only their lives but also the lives of Castiel and Balthazar. Also, how did their hunt-gone-wrong for a rugaru get them into this mess?
1. Chapter 1  Images Mirrored

**Timeline: This Story is set sometime in Season 6, probably a few weeks after Sam's wall cracks. **

**Rating: T for mild language, violence, and blood. Lots of blood :P**

**Warning: Lots of twists coming, don't assume you know where this is headed because you may be surprised!**

Chapter 1: Images Mirrored

Something felt wrong. 6:34am, Dean rolled over onto his side and faced the windows where patches of sunlight squeezed through the cracks in the motel curtains that never quite completely shut. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong- he looked to his left- Sam's empty bed. Sam was already awake and Dean could hear the shower water running.

Then it hit him.

Wrong bed.

Why was he in this bed? This was Sam's bed, right? Sam always slept on this side of the room- the bed closest to the windows. He slowly stood up, straightening to his full height- he felt dizzy, the ground felt so far away and his head felt so light- he grimaced. No, not a hangover. He didn't remember drinking the night before- and there was no excruciating headache, no sensitivity to light. But then again, on further reflection he realized he couldn't remember anything from the night before. Heck, come to think of it, he didn't even recognize this hotel room. But there was the salt by the door, a Winchester safety standard. And Sam's laptop, on top of the bedside table. It *was* their hotel room- not some chick he had followed home. He rubbed his eyes, trying to focus. His hands felt big. His depth perception felt weird, everything felt smaller… or shorter. And he felt so tall. The dizziness was turning to nausea. He tried to walk but found his legs were too weak to hold him, he quickly sat back down on the edge of his bed. Pushed the hair out of his eyes.

He pushed the hair out of his eyes? What? Hair? In his eyes? He couldn't remember the last time his hair was this long. Sure his hair grew fast but since when did he go to bed and wake up with Sammy hair? He tugged at it.- yeah, it was his. Or at least it was attached to his scalp. Sure crazier things had happened but this was just…. Weird. No, weird he could understand, this was…. Yeah, there was really no word for this.

He sat there, mind spinning. Nope. He was coming up with nothing. A drug trip? No. Hangover? Already went over that. No. A curse or a witch's spell? And what would that be? Cursed with Sammy hair and a head that felt like it was either going to explode from internal pressure or be crushed by an external weight such as an anvil… or a refrigerator? (Couldn't tell- both felt possible). And don't forget the really big hands. He looked down, his feet were really big too. Oh, and waking up in the wrong bed. He never took the bed closest to the windows… too drafty. That was Sammy's thing. He liked the "fresh air".

Where was Sam? Was he still in the shower? Damn that guy took forever in the shower. And as if in answer to Dean's unspoken question, from the other room Dean heard a half yelp, some thumping around and then a gigantic crash. Dean was on his feet, forgetting his dizziness, raced forward just as the bathroom door opened and Dean came face to face with…. Dean?

Is this what he looked like when was scared?

His green eyes were round. In contrast to his Casper the ghost-white face, his freckles looked like someone had taken a sharpie pen and drawn them in. And blood was pouring profusely from a large gash on his forehead. That explained the crash. Or rather the crash explained the blood.

But then again, it wasn't him. Because how could he be staring at himself? Mirrors didn't come running towards you. At least not in his experience. But it looked like him. Only a really short version of him.

A demon?

It stared at him, eyes wide, unblinking.

Dean stumbled backwards, grabbing the holy water from the nightstand, splashed it on the doppelganger or the demon or the shafe shipper… errr, shape shifter. While it spluttered, seemingly unharmed by the holy water, Dean reached for the silver knife underneath his pillow and lunged forward but the creature grabbed his wrist, taking the knife easily from his hands.

"Dean! It's me, Sam!"

The voice was tinged with panic.

Dean tried to reach for the knife but "It" held it out of his reach and pushed him away. Dean fell backwards onto the bed. He watched as the creature with his face walked purposefully towards him, grabbed him roughly by the arm and pulled him towards the bathroom.

"Come here."

It pushed him towards a mirror. And there he saw Sam. Staring back at him.

"Holy freaky Friday, Sammy!"

_**One Week Ago**_

_It was cold. It was damp. They were hunting a rugaru. Sam's legs were beginning to cramp from crouching in the same position for what felt like an eternity. Sam could feel Dean's eyes on him. He also knew the expression he'd see in Dean's eyes if he turned around and looked at him. It had been awhile since Sam had been smacked with that "face full of hell", as Dean had put it. Sam had been scratching at the wall despite his brother's pleadings not to and Dean never missed an opportunity to point out how he always knew best. Dean had been right, Sam had been wrong. Again. But he knew this wasn't the end of it. He didn't want to argue with Dean but Sam wasn't going to let it rest. He wasn't going to just pretend that whatever happened during that year without a soul never happened. He needed to know. He needed to make things right. His conscience, it was what made him human. And during the past year he hadn't been human. Now that he had his soul back he couldn't shove aside his conscience._

_No matter what the two brothers had been through, separately and together, some things never changed and one of those things was Dean's protectiveness towards Sam. There had been a time when Sam insisted he didn't need a big brother to protect him and for a while Dean had been forced to admit that this was true. But now with the stability of this wall in his mind threatened, protective Dean was back. And if Sam were honest he would be forced to admit that he needed Dean. It wasn't that he didn't want to need Dean, he just wanted Dean to need him back. Or rather for Dean to admit that he needed Sam._

"_I appreciate the concern but would you please stop looking at me like I'm going to freakin' spaz out at any moment!"_

_Dean response was gentle. Of course it was. Dean had been so freakin' sympathetic lately. "Sam. I heard what the demon said." _

_What the demon had said. "It was a demon, Dean, it was probably lying." _

_But Sam didn't think it was and the demon's revelation had shaken him. Made him question whether he wanted to know about his missing year. Of course he didn't want to know. But it had also made him realize just how much he needed to know. _

_He wasn't going to tell Dean though, he couldn't let Dean know how seriously he was taking the Demon's words. Dean would never let Sam out of his sight if he knew that Sam planned to look into what the Demon had said._

"_Well that explanation's good enough for me. Leave it at that." Dean wasn't suggesting. _

_They were on the move. Together they combat crawled a few more feet through the grass, being careful not to make a sound. Sam was going to respond to Dean's comment but Dean gripped his arm tightly, "Shh. There it is." he whispered, nodding his head in the direction of the monster they were stalking. Sam pushed the hair from his eyes and saw it. Just as it saw them._

Blood. There was a lot of it. On the beds, on the carpet, on the door knob, and most disturbing, on his clothes. They had examined themselves carefully, looking for any fresh wounds and had found nothing. But there it was and it couldn't be older than a week old.

A week old. According to the front desk that's apparently when they had checked in and according to the date in the newspaper that's apparently how much time they'd lost.

"What's the last thing you remember?"Sam put his head in his hands and sighed. "I don't know. We were hunting that rugaru. We were in the grass. That's it." The rugaru had been a week ago.

Dean shook his head, "Yeah, same here. Man, what happened? Do you think that demon had something to do with this?"

"No, we exorcised it and I've never heard of a demon putting a curse on someone. We should summon Cas."

"Yeah, well Cas doesn't answer his phone."

Sam took a deep breath and rose to his feet. "Well I gotta get some air. I'll be back."

"Sam?" Sam turned around, "Did we kill the rugaru?"

Sam paused for a few moments, "I have no idea."

_**One Week Ago**_

_The rugaru stared at them._

_They stared at the rugaru._

_A standoff. So this was how it was going to be. Both waiting to see what the other would do._

_In some strange way Dean was enjoying himself. Maybe a little too much. It was all so straight forward, black and white. Here he and Sammy were fighting monsters together again, just like old times. No demons messing with your mind, no apocalypse, so crazy demon blood, no destiny crap. Just them and a monster. Now all they had to do was set the son of a bitch on fire and they could call it a night._

_Looking at the rugaru it was hard to believe that this monster had ever been human. It had been an easy case to solve, and the rugaru had been sloppy. 'Just because you're a monster with super-human strength doesn't mean you have any brains.' Dean had said to Sam. The rugaru had had a name, a job, and a family. But then Todd Rowe had been consumed with an overwhelming hunger for human flesh and he ate his family. Not all at once, he tied them up, and stored them in the basement where he would feed on them as he needed. And this monster is what he'd become. That's how rugarus transformed. They looked just like humans until they ate human flesh and then it was all over, no turning back. _

_Of course the neighbors had grown suspicious when Mrs. Rowe started missing her Tuesday night bridge club, when little Todd Rowe Jr. ceased knocking on Mrs. Atkin's door asking for cookies, and when Carolyne Rowe's unexplained absences from school were noticed by her teacher. That's when a truant officer knocked on the family door and was never heard from again. That's when the police got involved. And that's when Todd Rowe had fled. Leaving behind the bloody bones of his family. _

_It moved fast. Sure Dean had fought a rugaru before but he still didn't expect this speed. It had Sam. Was on top of Sam. Sam was screaming as it tore into his flesh. Dean didn't think, just let instinct and adrenaline kick in. He grabbed his gun, punched the monster full of holes. Wouldn't kill him but maybe it would stun him a bit. The creature growled angrily, now he was pissed. His eyes burned red. He leapt forward towards dean, knocking the gun from his hands, throwing him to the ground. Stunned by the force by which he'd been thrown, Dean crawled to his feet as the rugaru lumbered forward. Dean grabbed him by his ankles, knocking him to the ground, he began throwing punches. Where was Sam. Why hadn't he joined in the fight? "Sam!" he shouted, "get the lighter fluid!" He heard a moan from Sam's direction. But then the rugaru had Dean's arm, he twisted it and pulled forward, Dean could feel it tear from it's socket. He screamed in agony. Energized by the shift in control, the rugaru threw Dean off of him, Dean felt his head slam against a tree. No air. He couldn't breathe. He tried to get back on his feet but the rugaru was back at him. Red hot. Searing pain as the monster tore into him. He struggled to get the rugaru off him but his right arm was useless. He couldn't see in the dark, but suddenly the rugaru was off of him. Sam. Sam had grabbed him. Lunged at him with a knife straight to the heart. Didn't kill him. Of course it didn't kill him but it had to have hurt. The two of them, throwing punches, kicking, throwing each other around like rag dolls. The rugaru pulled the knife from his chest and suddenly it was in Sam. "Nooo!" Dean screamed as Sam crumbled to the ground. Dean grabbed a rock, rushed forward with a blow to the rugaru's head that knocked him out cold. _

**TBC**


	2. Chapter 2 Fading Images

**Chapter 2**

"Dean, what the hell? What are you watching? That's not Freaky Friday is it? It is! You're watching Freaky Friday?"

"Shut up Sam. I can't hear the lines over your bitching," Dean looked up and saw Sam's WTF expression, "Seriously, dude. You think you're the only one who does any research around here?"

"Oh really? You thought you could find answers from a Disney movie?"

Dean shrugged, "Hey, it was on TV and what can I say, Lindsey Lohan's a babe." He flipped off the television set, tossing the remote control onto the bed.

"Dude!" he exclaimed looking at the table where the breakfast Sam had just arrived with sat, "You're my hero! Man I could use some coffee!"

He pulled a flask out of his pocket and began to add it to his coffee.

"Oh whoa! Hold on there, Dean!" Sam exclaimed grabbing the flask from his hand, "No way you're drinking at 9:00 in the morning!"

"I'm a big boy now Sam, if you wish I could show you some ID!"

Sam laughed, "Dude, there's no way in hell I'm gonna watch you blow out my liver! What you do to yourself is your problem but I'll be damned if you don't return my body to me in the condition in which it was loaned!"

"Yeah, well right back at you." Dean muttered a few more things as he grabbed his jacket and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?"

"Don't worry mother, not going to do anything you wouldn't do!"

"Seriously Dean, where are you going?"

"Gonna give Bobby a ring. I'll be back before curfew."

_**One Week Ago**_

_The rugaru was dead. Dean would have loved to have stuck around to watch him burn but at the moment there were more pressing matters. Sam for one. Dean stumbled over to where Sam lay. Sam was so still, Dean's heart was pounding in his throat and he realized he wasn't breathing. Kneeling beside him, he felt for a pulse. There it was. Weak, but it was there. It was going to be alright. He searched out the knife. It was in Sam's chest but from what Dean could tell it hadn't pierced his heart. Whether or not it had hit any other vital organs, Dean couldn't tell. "Gotta get you to a hospital there, Sammy." Dean grunted as he tried to lift Sam off the ground. Easier said than done. He let out a strangled sob as it dawned on him that he wouldn't be going anywhere far with one of his arms wrenched from it's socket. _

_He sat there on his knees, head in hands for several moments, breathing heavily. He was so helpless. What could he do. He was in agony, he desperately needed medical attention himself but he couldn't just leave Sam here. Cell phone. Where was his cell phone? He could call for help. Call 911 or something. He reached into his pocket. It must have fallen out during the fight. He crawled around in the wet grass for several minutes searching for it but it was too dark, he couldn't see anything. _

_Sam's cell phone. He crawled back over to Sam and dug around in his pockets. Murphy's Law. Since when did Sam forget his cell phone? Oh crap. That's right, he had let the battery die and had left it back at the hotel room to recharge._

_Stupid idea anyway. How could he summon paramedics under such suspicious circumstances- a burning corpse just feet from where they lie?_

'_Think, Dean! Think!' _

_This was an impossible situation even in the best of circumstances. Sam was a load to carry even when Dean was at his best. And the fireman carry wasn't even an option. The pain was overwhelming. _

'_Suck it up Dean!'_

_That's what he would do. Damn the pain. He'd get Sam to the car if it killed him. He tried it again. The fireman carry. It was the only way he'd ever been able to carry Sam. His attempt to pull Sam onto his shoulder failed. A bitter chuckle escaped from between clenched teeth- exactly how did he plan to do that with the use of only one arm? It wasn't an issue of pain. It was an issue of having the arm torn completely from it's socket and just hanging there uselessly. No sucking that one up. _

'_Oh God,' he whispered into the dark. 'If I ever needed you before, I really need you now.' He could tell that he was on the verge of shock. He was loosing a lot of blood and Sam lay just a few feet away, bleeding to death as well. _

_He stood up. 'Breathe, Dean. Breathe.' _

'_We're so screwed.'_

Dean was calling Bobby on Sam's cell phone. His had gone missing. They had turned the entire motel room upside down looking for it. Loosing his cell phone was something he definitely did not remember. That was the worst. Not remembering when or how he'd lost it.

"So Bobby, what do you think is going on?" Dean had explained the situation to Bobby. At first he thought Dean had been joking. Dean had been so calm and matter-of-fact in his retelling of the morning's events.

"You're kidding me."

"I wish I was Bobby."

"What? Do I look like an idjit?"

"I really don't know Bobby, I can't see you."

"It's too late in the year for one of your damn April Fools pranks."

Dean sighed, "Bobby, we really need your help. Just for a minute consider that maybe I'm telling the truth. It seems like a curse to me. What kind of creature has that kind of power?"

There was a pause as Bobby tried to wrap his head around Dean's words. Sam. He had Sam's voice and he had Sam's cell phone but Sam didn't joke around like this.

"Well, what's the last thing you remember?"

"Well, we kinda both have amnesia. Neither of us can remember the past week."

"Both of you? How the hell do you expect me to figure out what happened if you have no memories?"

"Well, I was thinking, maybe the amnesia has something to do with the body switching."

"Before the amnesia. What do you remember from a week ago?

"We were hunting a rugaru. Rugarus can't do this kind of thing. Right?

"Nah. What about before then."

"Well, we had a run in with a demon. Bastard said some nasty things about Sam and what he did last year but we sent his ass back to Hell. Do you think a demon could do this?"

"How the hell should I know? I've never heard of such a thing happening outside of Hollywood!"

"So you're pretty much telling me you can't help?"

"I didn't say that Dean. Just hold tight. I'll try to see what I can figure out. You know, an angel could probably swing something like this. You might try giving that angel friend of yours a call."

"Cas? I've tried. But I don't seem to be getting through. I don't know what it takes to get a hold of him anymore."

"Well keep trying. I'll see what I can find out on my end. And if you remember anything, anything at all, give me a call."

"Will do. Thanks Bobby." Dean didn't think that those words could express the gratitude he felt towards Bobby at the moment. Bobby would figure this out and just having someone to talk to, someone who wasn't involved in this mess, was comforting beyond what he could adequately say with just a thank you. Bobby was there and everything was going to work out fine.

_**One Week Ago**_

'_I'm sorry Sammy.' Dean whispered to Sam, 'This is going to hurt like hell but I'm gonna have to drag you to the car.' _

_He took a deep breath. Pushed aside the pain and grabbed one of Sam's ankles. Two feet. Three feet. Five feet. Dean crumbled to the ground. He couldn't do this. He looked over at Sam and felt again for a pulse. Still there._

_If you can't take Mohammad to the mountain, bring the mountain to Mohammad. _

_Or was it the other way around? Didn't matter. He didn't know why he hadn't thought about this before. He looked around him, what would be the easiest way to bring around the Impala? He couldn't bring it the way they came which was through the trees and into this small clearing . There was a river on one side of them and also a nature trail. Perhaps he could bring the car along the nature trail._

'_Okay Sammy, hang tight. I'm going to be right back.'_

_It would have been easier to have taken the nature trail to the Impala but Dean figured it was faster through the woods. More direct. It had been easier navigating the trees, the rocky terrain, and the brush the first time they'd come through. Dean stumbled more times than he could count. Never stopping to acknowledge the fact that the flesh on his arm, shoulder, neck, and chest had been shredded by the teeth of the rugaru during the fight or the deep gash on his forehead which was still bleeding and would probably require over a dozen stitches or his twisted ankle which was screaming at him in pain, pleading with him to stop running. Flesh wounds yes, but if he didn't die from loss of blood he'd die from exposure. And if he stopped long enough to catch his breath or think about the insanity of the entire situation he knew he'd never get back up so he kept pushing._

_There it was. The Impala. It had never looked so beautiful before._

"Dean, I've been thinking. We need to go at this like any other case. Maybe talk to the locals."

"Great idea Sammy. That would be awesome if we had any idea what we would be talking to the locals about." Sarcasm.

Sam rolled his eyes, "Look Dean, there's an entire week that we can't remember anything about. What were we doing? Maybe if we could figure that out we could figure out what's going on. Maybe somebody saw us. All I know is we gotta do something and I'm really not in the mood to sit around and watch Lindsey Lohan or reruns of I Love Lucy. If nothing else, maybe just getting out there and digging around will bring back memories."

Dean nodded. "Alright then. Let's hit the town. Where to first?"

"Well, it looks like there's a diner slash bar just a few blocks away. If we went anywhere, I bet that's the first place you went. I'm sure there's some waitress you screwed or some small-town pool shark you hustled out there who'd be more than willing to tell us what you've been up to."

Dean grinned, "It's a shame I can't remember any of it!"

Walking towards the door, Dean stopped at the doorway and turned around.

"Sam,"

"Yeah?"

"Where are we?"

"We're in Wyoming, Ohio."

Dean grinned, he did remember the laugh he had gotten out of the name when Sam had found the story in the newspaper about the suspicious deaths of the Rowe family _'Wyoming, Ohio, Sammy? Well which one is it? Make up your mind there boy!'_

"Isn't that where we were hunting the rugaru?"

"Yeah. What about it Dean?"

"Well, if we killed the rugaru then why did we stick around? What kept us here?"

Sam shrugged, "Maybe we didn't kill it. But if it's still around that means that it's still eating people. We'll have to look into recent disappearances and bizarre deaths."

_**One Week Ago**_

_Dean drove the Impala as close to Sam as he could, he dragged him the remaining few feet, right up to the passenger door. Now for the hard part. Getting Sam into the car. _

_After pushing and pulling at Sam for several moments Dean gave up. So close but yet impossible. If Dean was going to get Sam into the car he'd need a little assistance from Sam. _

'_Okay Sammy, you need to wake up. Help me out here. I'm trying to help you but I just can't do it.'_

_He slapped Sam's face gently, trying to get him to regain consciousness. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his flask of whiskey. Thank God that hadn't fallen out during the fight too! He poured a little bit of it down Sam's throat and then splashed him in the face with the rest of it. _

_It worked. Thank God it worked. Sam's eyes fluttered open and he moaned in pain, 'Dean' was all he said. _

'_Alright big boy. Sit up.' Sam obeyed, feebly managing to crawl himself into the passenger seat of the Impala. His head rolling back the minute Dean had him buckled in, once again losing consciousness._

_Dean climbed into the car and sat there gathering his thoughts. Where was he going to go? The hospital. 'Idiot.' he whispered to himself. Why hadn't they scoped out any nearby hospitals? He could drive around till he found one, or he could just drive back to their motel room and call an ambulance. He liked that idea._

_They were at motel room. The morning was beginning to break and Dean needed to get Sam into the motel room before people started waking up. The last thing they needed to do was freak anyone out._

_He pulled the Impala up as close as he could to the front door of their room. Got out of the car, opened up the motel room door. This time Dean had better leverage and was able to get Sam over his good shoulder. _

_He should be feeling relieved. He'd gotten Sam over his shoulder, he didn't need to drag him into the hotel room over the rough asphalt pavement, they were finally at the motel room where he could call for an ambulance and get the medical attention they both desperately needed. The rugaru was dead and everything would be fine in the morning. But there was a cold dead weight at the pit of his stomach. He felt chilled. Something was wrong with Sam. Of course there was something wrong with Sam but this was worse. Dean pushed his fears from his mind. Sam was going to be okay. All he needed was a blood transfusion and a few stitches here and there and he'd be good as new. Both of them._

'_No Dean. Don't even think like that.' he kept pushing the nagging fears from his mind. 'Sammy isn't dead. I didn't go through all of this to drag home Sammy's dead body.'_

_He tried to lay Sam as gently as he could onto the bed, which wasn't very gently. 'Quick, find the pulse, where's the pulse? Sammy! Where's the pulse?' He pushed his fingers against Sam's neck. Nothing. Sam's wrist. Nothing. 'Come on Sammy!' _

_'No, no, no no no!'  
><em>

_Sammy was dead. Dean crumbled into a heap on the bed next to Sam's. Ambulance? No need for an ambulance anymore. He lay there for hours. Bleeding. Dying. Too exhausted, too broken to care._

**TBC**


	3. Chapter 3 Heavenly Images

**Story so far: Set in Season 6, shortly after Sam's wall cracks. Currently: Sam and Dean wake up to find that they've switched bodies and can't remember the past week leading up to the switch. Flashback: Sam was killed during a fight with a rugaru and Dean is dying.**

**Rating: T for mild language, blood and violence. Not so much violence in this chapter but if you're a vampire you will love the amount of blood.**

**Author's Note: Okay, I realize that at the end of chapter 2 the Impala was left unparked at the front of the motel. No explanation as to why it wasn't discovered and towed or how it ended up parked. Maybe somebody can offer an explanation but some things are better left to the imagination. :P**

They stood there, mouths gaping, staring at the Impala. More blood. They had not seen this coming. Though they should have.

Dean couldn't decide which was more sickening, the smell of blood that had been sitting in his hot car for God knew how long or the dried blood all over the beautiful leather seats of his most cherished possession. Stains that would never come out no matter how much scrubbing they did.

They'd pushed aside the blood in the hotel room and on their clothing. It had overwhelming implications and they were overwhelmed enough as it was. Wide eyed. Sam and Dean looked at the Impala and then at each other and back at the Impala. They had an unspoken agreement to silence. They had too much to talk about, not here, not now. This wasn't a conversation one had over the roof of a car. This was a serious, over shots of whiskey, talk.

"We've got to get her cleaned up." Dean was the first to speak, his voice rough with emotion.

"There's a car wash about a mile up the road." Stunned.

Dean nodded, "Alright then, get in the car."

Sam stood there, looking at him in disgust.

"Dude. The blood."

Dean just looked at him questioningly, an unspoken "so what?" in his eyes.

Sam snorted, shrugged his shoulders, "Do what you want, man. I'll be right back."

Sam returned several moments later with an excessive amount of towels from the motel room, placing them carefully over everything he might touch on their short car ride. Dean just stood back laughing. Sam glared at him.

"What's so funny about caution and cleanliness?"

"Dude, it's so freakin' hilarious watching me be such a freak about a little bit of blood!"

More glaring. "Shut up and drive." Sam said grumpily as he slammed the car door. "Whoa, there Sammy! Careful with her! She's been through enough." He laughed, gently patting the roof of his car.

He leaned in to get in the driver's seat but he paused there uncertain for several moments… finally he rolled his eyes, grabbed one of Sam's extra towels, threw it over his seat and climbed in. Sam just laughed.

_**A Week Ago**_

_Light was streaming through the windows. 6:34am. Dean's eyes fluttered open. 'Mmmm…' Dean sighed. Silk sheets, soft down comforter, feather pillow. 'Lisa' he whispered. Laying beside him in their bed. Putting his hand on her cool smooth back, he leaned in closer to her and kissed the top of her dark head. Sleepy. Content. Heaven. _

'_Good morning, Dean.' She rolled over onto her side, smiled, kissed him on the lips. He brushed her dark hair from her eyes and smiled back. Kissed her on her nose._

_Dreaming. He realized that. He'd had this dream many times. But this time it felt so real. Her scent. Her voice. Her smile. Not a detail off. _

_She rolled out of bed, threw on her robe. 'Go back to sleep honey. I'll take Ben to school today. I know how exhausted you've been.' _

_Sounded nice. Could one fall asleep within a dream? He'd never thought about it. And if he did fall asleep, would it be possible to dream within a dream? Interesting thought. _

_He jolted up. Sam. Dead. Him. Dying. Was this really just a dream or had he died?_

_Pinching himself. Never worked. Didn't work this time either. It was weird, he always pinched himself in his dreams and in his dreams it always hurt. Or at least he always imagined that it hurt. But it never woke him up._

_He jumped out of bed, threw on his t-shirt that was crumpled up on the chair by the bed. He stood looking around him, taking in his surroundings. It looked real and it felt real. How did one tell the difference between dreams and reality? Or dreams and Heaven? Maybe him and Sam hunting the rugaru had been the dream. Maybe this was real. He ran through the hall and down the stairs._

'_Dean?' he heard Lisa call from the kitchen, 'is that you?' _

'_I'll be right back!' he called back to her as he ran out the front door._

_There it was. He recognized it. The road. He'd been here before, only he'd woken up in his Impala. Apparently his Heaven had changed. Despite the feeling of panic that was rising in his chest, this thought brought a smile to his face. Lisa and Ben- his family. That's where his heart was. That was his Heaven. How amazing was that?_

_In the garage. He had to see if it was there. There it was, the Impala. What would Heaven be without her? He ran his hand down her cool, smooth, shiny black finish. She was in perfect condition. Better than he could make her, even with all of the obsessive care he put into her. He smiled to himself. Real or not, strangely it didn't matter this time. _

_What had he done to get into Heaven? _

_Sammy. He'd died too. Where was he? Where was his Heaven? He'd found him last time, he'd find him again. Would he be at the same place he was before or had his Heaven changed as well? What would he do if Sam had moved and left no forwarding address? _

They had found the car wash, no problem. Though Sam had been especially jumpy throughout the entire ride. Dean seemed to be driving even more erratically than usual. As if the arsenal in their trunk wasn't enough incentive for Dean to drive carefully, Sam didn't want to imagine what would happen if a cop caught sight of the inordinate amount of blood on the upholstery of their car while issuing a routine traffic ticket. Couldn't imagine that would go over too well. And didn't exactly know how they'd explain it.

They had taken a high pressure hose to the interior of the car, rinsed it down and then tried to scrub it clean with hot soapy water and heavy duty scrub brushes.

Their hands were raw and bleeding but the car was clean, it smelled better than it had smelled in years even though the blood stains remained.

Dean just stood there staring at the interior of his car. His face pained. Finally he threw up his hands and sighed, "That's not gonna come out of the leather. I'm going to have to reupholster the whole thing."

Sam came over, gave him an "I sympathize with you man" side hug and a gentle "It'll be alright" slap on the back. Dean just gave him an appreciative smile.

Dean, "Well, nothing more to do here. What do you say we head on over to that bar, I could use something to drink." He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.

Ten minutes later they pulled up to 'Hick's Bar and Grill'. 'Hick'. Dean couldn't tell if that was the guy's actual name or if he was just really proud of who he was. Dean didn't care as long as he served giant cheese burgers, fries with an extra side of grease and a cold beer.

Sam got out of the car first, Dean lagged a little bit behind.

"Why are you just standing there? Aren't you coming in?"

Dean chuckled, "Sorry man, I just love watching you duck your head before you enter a building! You know you don't need to do that anymore, right?"

Sam just rolled his eyes and waited for Dean to start moving. Sometimes that was the only way to deal with Dean.

It was Sam's turn to laugh though as Dean entered the restaurant, forgetting to duck his.

_**Less Than a Week Ago**_

_It had taken a while to find Sam but he eventually found him somewhere that bore a striking resemblance to the Stanford library._

'_Hell, no.' Dean smirked, he had to laugh at the fact that Sam's Heaven, or at least part of his Heaven, included books. _

_Sam had seemed surprised to see Dean, 'Oh man,' an anguished sigh. 'What are you doing here?'_

_Dean was a bit taken aback by his brother's reaction, 'Yeah, well real nice to see you too there Sammy boy.'_

'_No, no! It's just that you shouldn't be here. You're dead. You shouldn't be dead. Why are you dead too?'_

_It hit Sam that crying was probably not the reaction his brother was looking for so he quickly put his hands on his hips in his typical, 'everything's cool, quick, force a smile' pose. Only he sniffed back a sob a little bit too loudly. His eyes blinked rapidly. He quickly looked away, not meeting Dean's eyes._

_Dean ignored the question and just came at his brother with a big hug. Sam shuffled and looked down at his feet, 'I'm really sorry Dean, I told you I had your back but I failed you again.'_

'_Shut up you moron, it wasn't your damn fault.' _

_Sam just nodded. Though feeling as if he could have done more. As though he should have been able to save Dean.  
><em>

'_Besides, here we are, and who'd have guessed that we'd end up in Heaven?' He grinned at Sam and Sam tried to return the smile._

'_You know, we'd probably both still be alive if I hadn't let your cell phone die.' Dean laughed sheepishly. Yeah, that had been Dean's fault._

_Sam raised an eyebrow but Dean didn't elaborate. He didn't get a chance. Because just then the earth beneath Dean started spinning. Sam caught him as he collapsed to his knees.  
><em>

_High pitched screeching in his ears. Like fingernails against a chalkboard. His head felt like it was going to explode, he couldn't hear Sam's cries of panic, all he could hear above the screeching were words, disconnected words that didn't mean anything to him… 'Ophan…biggest …obstacle…' more screeching, 'He knows where Moses' bones are… they can't…'… 'Michael knows where they are'… 'Michael…Throne…'… 'doesn't…' 'Michael is here…' 'Raphael said…' The words weren't loud but they were the only things that Dean could focus on through the pain and the blinding screeching in his brain._

_It seemed to go on for an eternity but just as quickly as it had began, it ended. Leaving Dean limp in Sam's arms._

Dean always read the menu. Sam could never figure out why. Dean always ordered the same thing but this time Dean surprised him. He closed the menu, and leaning forward, he asked, "So Sammy, what are you ordering?"

"I thought I'd have a tuna sandwich... maybe a salad too."

"Hmm. Sounds good. I think I'll get that too."

Sam stared at him. "Why?"

Dean laughed, "I don't know, maybe you're rubbing off on me. It just sounds good."

"You hate tuna."

Dean shrugged, "Oh, I don't know. Don't know that I've ever really given it a try. It just smells so bad that I've never really tried it."

"Huh." Was all Sam could think of to say to that.

Not that he was complaining.

* * *

><p>Sam followed Dean's gaze across the room. She was blond, busty, and wearing a shirt that left little to the imagination and she was walking their way. Dean smiled, giving her the silent 'what up?' as she walked by. She smiled and winked at him.<p>

"She'll be coming back" Dean winked knowingly at Sam.

"Dean, try to remember that you are wearing my meat suit. Please try to treat it with the same respect that I would treat it with and trust me, if you screw that waitress, I will kick your ass!"

Dean grinned, "And for once in your life, you probably could!"

He was right, she came back. Placed their orders but seemed to linger a little bit longer than necessary, "Are you sure you don't need nothin' more?" Directed at Dean. An exaggerated southern accent.

"I'd like some coffee." Sam had interjected, she seemed annoyed by his interruption. Annoyed that she had to take her eyes of Dean for a few moments. Sam got a small satisfaction from the fact that at the moment Dean looked like him, even though it was Dean's charm doing most of the work.

Finally she left. They ate their lunch making small talk. "The weather is nice here in Ohio." "Don't think the Impala should be too hard to reupholster." " Hope I can find leather to match the back seats." "When we're done here I should find out if we killed that rugaru." They were finished but sat there in silence for several moments until Sam brought up the subject that neither really wanted to talk about.

"That was a lot of blood."

Dean nodded, gulping down the last of his beer.

"I think it was our blood." He didn't meet Sam's eyes, it felt crazy to say it out loud. They had been ignoring the biggest clue to all of this mess. And it had been right under their noses.

Sammy nodded, "Don't know who's else it could be."

They paused awkwardly. Dean finally broke the silence with the obvious, "Here we are though. Not a scratch on us. Our clothes, though, those were torn to shreds."

"What do you think happened"

Dean shook his head, "Damned if I know."

"Do you think we died?"

Dean's head shot up, "What? Why would you think that? I mean, we're alive, aren't we?"

Sam laughed softly, "Yeah, and how many times have we died but here we are. It's just… with all that blood… if it's our blood, we should be dead. And going by how your car and our motel room smelled, I'd guess that it'd been there for at least a week. Don't tell me that we walked around for a week in our tattered, bloody clothes."

Dean, "You're right. And I wouldn't have walked around for a week letting that blood sit in my car."

They sat in silence, this time Sam broke it, "So how do you figure we got back?"

"You got me. Maybe Cas."

It seemed like the more they dug the more everything led to and ended with Cas.

Dean winced.

Sam, "What's wrong, Dean?"

Dean rubbed his temples, "I don't know. A Headache." Understatement. "Just came on. Just get me another beer and I'll be fine." It wasn't usual for him to get migraines like this. Sam used to get them all the time back when he was having visions. He winced again, putting his head on the table.

"Come on Dean, let's get you back to the motel room. I'll pay the check."

Sam helped Dean up from his seat, helped him to the car, leaving behind a few bill to pay for the meal. And a strangely small tip for the waitress.

**TBC**


	4. Chapter 4 Spitting Image

**Rated: T for mild language, perilous situations, and terrible writing.**

**Reviews: Thank you so much for the reviews, I really appreciate your comments!**

**Story so far: A deadly fight with a rugaru, a brotherly reunion in heaven, strange voices, a bizarre body switch, and a double case of amnesia.**

The car ride was mercifully short. Dean was a silent sufferer but Sam could see the pain Dean was in. He'd had enough migraines himself to recognize the pain etched on Dean's purposely expressionless face. He wore dark shades to block the intensely bright sunlight, his jaw was tight and his hands were fisted in his lap, knuckles white.

The headache seemed to leave abruptly. His posture relaxed, his fists unclenched.

"Pills finally kick in?" Sam asked, surprised at the abrupt change in Dean.

"Didn't take any."

"So the headache. It's just gone?"

"Not really. It keeps coming and going."

Sam frowned. "Well that's just weird. What do you think is causing it?"

"That waitress. I think her perfume finally got to me. Man, she must have bathed in that…Crap!" It took Sam a moment to realize that the curse at the end of Dean's joke had nothing to do with the perfume the waitress had been wearing- Dean was grimacing again, hunched over in pain.

"Dammit, Dean." Sam swerved a bit as he glanced over at Dean, placing a hand on his arm.

"Just keep your eyes on the road." Dean growled through teeth clenched in pain.

Sam sighed. Frustrated. He hated not being able to do anything to help relieve Dean's pain. He rummaged around in his jacket pocket for several moments, pulled out some heavy duty pain medication- he told Dean to take some but Dean refused. _'It's really not that bad' _he'd lied. Leave it to Dean to try to suck up a migraine. He could be an idiot some times.

Dean's headache seemed to have passed again. As quickly as it had come. Highly likely that it would come back again though.

And Sam worried that maybe this headache was meant for him. He wondered if Dean was thinking the same thing. If he was, he hadn't mentioned it. Sam couldn't recall Dean ever getting headaches. Though maybe Dean had always been really good at hiding them. Dean had always been really good at hiding pretty much everything. Not that Sam had had any headaches lately either though. And even when he did, they were migraines that left him paralyzed with pain for at least 24 hours. Not flashes of pain that lasted perhaps 5-10 minutes at a time and then passed only to return a few minutes later. This actually reminded Sam of the headaches he used to get when he'd have visions. But Dean wasn't having visions.

Sam stepped out of the car, Dean walked a few steps behind him. Pulling the key from his pocket, Sam was about to open the door when Dean grabbed Sam's arm and took the keys from him. "Stop." He whispered. He wasn't looking at Sam, his eyes were fixed on the motel room door. He went up to the window, back flat against the building and tried to peak in.

"What do you see?"

Dean frowned. "Nothing._ Dammit_. "

"Good. Give the key back."

"We can't go in there." Dean jogged back over to the Impala and climbed into the drivers seat, put the key in the ignition, waiting for Sam to join him but Sam just stood at the door of the motel. Staring at Dean as if he were out of his mind.

_Unbelievable._ Dean thought "Get your ass over here!" He mouthed angrily at Sam motioning wildly for him to join him in the car.

_Unbelievable_. When had Dean decided that it was no longer necessary to treat him like an adult. '_We can't go in there.' _was all he'd said_. _'_Do what I say. Don't ask questions.' _

Sam got into the car angrily. Glared at Dean. "Okay. What's the big freakin' deal? Mind telling me why we can't go into our room?"

"Yes."

"What?"

"Yes, I do mind." Dean elaborated.

Sam stared at Dean in disbelief. Waited for him to say something more but Dean just turned his attention towards the motel room door, as if he expected something to happen. His expression intense. Unreadable.

"Come on Dean. I don't know why you won't tell me what's going on and I know you like to share information with me on a need-to-know basis but I think I need to know."

Dean was silent a few more moments and Sam thought perhaps he was ignoring him, but finally Dean said,

"There's something in there." That's all he was going to say? Apparently Dean thought he could appease Sam with that tiny bit of information. _Nice try, Dean._

"Yeah? You said you didn't see anything when you looked in the window."

"I didn't."

"Well then you need to explain how the hell you know something's in there."

"I don't need to do anything. You need to trust me." Dean's annoyance had turned to pleading. _Don't ask me more_ his eyes said.

"Screw you." Sam said angrily. He grabbed his gun and reached for the car door.

Dean, "Where do you think you're going?"

Sam was pissed, "I'm going to see if there's anything in there. You can come with me if you wish or you can stay in the car and I will let you know when the coast is clear."

Dean shook his head, and said quietly, "A gun's not gonna work."

"Then I'll take the colt."

"The colt won't work either."

Sam sat back in his seat and turned to look at Dean. Dean could be infuriating. Sometimes it took a great deal of self-control to not beat the crap out of him.

"Mind telling me what's in there that the Colt won't kill?"

Dean was avoiding Sam's eyes and Sam couldn't figure out why. "Angels." He finally looked at Sam, watching for Sam's reaction.

"How do you know that?"

"Don't ask. I just know."

"Come on Dean, you owe me an answer. I need an answer."

Dean shifted uncomfortably, he looked down at the steering wheel, "I heard them." He played with the ring on his finger.

"I didn't hear anything, Dean."

Dean nodded. He didn't speak for several moments, "I don't know why I can hear them and you can't. But I'm a little bit more freaked that I knew they were there before I actually heard them." He was so quiet Sam wondered if he had heard him right, "

He was stunned, he didn't know what to say. Dean turned his head back towards the window, sat there with his head tilted to the side, his brows furrowed.

Several moments later Dean turned towards Sam, his face white, "We've gotta get out of here. They know we're out here." He shifted the car into gear and stomped on the gas. They were out of there so fast Sam was sure he would be feeling whiplash tomorrow morning.

It hit him. Sam figured it out. Dean had been listening. To the angels. That's why he'd been sitting in the car staring at their motel room. _Geez, I can be such an idiot sometimes. _Sam hadn't realized that Dean was still hearing the angels while they had been talking in the car. That he could hear the angels from such a far distance.

Sam looked over his shoulder as they sped away- several men were coming out of the motel room. Must be the angels. He could only hope that they hadn't noticed them driving out of there like a bat out of you-know-where.

"So Sammy, anything you failed to tell me?" Dean looked over at Sam, eyebrows raised.

"What do you mean?"

"Why am I suddenly the angel whisperer? You been catching angel radio lately?"

"Dean. I have _demon_ blood in me. I haven't been hearing from _angels. _That's all you bro."

"Well that's freaky as hell."

Silence.

"Dean, what makes you think the angels are trying to harm us? Maybe they just want to talk."

Dean snorted, "Come on Sam, I'm hearing angel voices in my head. So when I tell you the angels want to kill us, I'm not just pulling it from my ass."

"So what did we do this time to piss them off?"

"Beats me."

"Wait a second!" Sam grabbed Dean's arm, "We died."

Dean looked over, question in his eyes.

"What if when we died, we went to Heaven? I mean, what if this has something to do with something that happened up there?"

Again. More questions that could only be answered by Cas.

_**Less than A Week Ago**_

_Silence. _

_The screeching had stopped as had the words. Been replaced by complete and total silence. Sam was shaking him. Dean lay there, could see Sam repeating his name over and over but could hear nothing. He sat up slowly. Shaky. Things started coming into focus, and gradually Dean's hearing started to return._

'_Michael is back' Had he really heard that? Michael the archangel who was supposed to be in the cage with Lucifer? What did that mean?_

'_Did you hear that?' There was fear in Dean's eyes… he looked at Sam hopefully, hoping that Sam had heard or felt something too. That it wasn't just him. That perhaps Sam had heard the voices. The deafening screeching. Felt the ground spinning under their feet. _

_Sam just stared at him, face a mixture of terror and relief, 'I didn't hear a thing. You just flipped out on me. I thought you were having a seizure or something. You heard something?'_

'_Yeah. Voices.'_

'_Voices? Seriously? Like what kind of voices?'_

'_I don't remember all of it, it's like I'm catching radio frequency in my head.' Dean didn't mention that he had been hearing things all morning. It freaked him out. He debated whether or not to admit to Sam that he knew what the voices were. Angels. He was hearing angelic conversations. And he had no clue why he could hear them but Sam could not. After all Sam was the one with the psychic abilities. Or at least he had been. _

_But Sam was not going to give him the option of keeping secrets from him. Sam listened wordlessly as Dean told him about what he'd been hearing, 'but this is the first time it was like this. It was different this time. Louder. Stronger. A little bit more coherent. You know, actual words strung together. Before it sounded like static with maybe a word here or there.' _

_Sam took a deep breath. 'Why? I mean, why now?' _

_'What do you mean?'  
><em>

'_I mean, why are you hearing angelic conversations now? You've been to Heaven before. Did you hear angel voices then?'_

__Dean shrugged. __

'_No, but maybe it has something to do with Michael? After all I am Michael's vessel. That didn't necessarily change just because I said no. Just because Adam replaced me. Maybe I can hear the angels when Michael's in the building.'_

'_Michael? But Michael is in the cage.'_

_Dean had forgotten to mention that. 'No, Michael is back. That's what I heard.'_

'_Seriously? Who sprung Michael? I can't imagine this being a good thing! What else did you hear?_

'_Umm, something about the throne of God and Moses' bones.'_

_Sam laughed, 'Seriously dude? Moses' bones?' _

'_Yeah. You think it's significant?'_

_Sam grinned, "Well here we are in a library… Let's see what we can find out!'_

'_Awesome. Research. Just what I always hoped I'd be doing if I ever reached Heaven.'_

_Three hours later. They were sitting at a large table. Sam was surrounded by piles of books. Dean had tried to help for a short time but had fallen asleep after about thirty minutes. _

_Sam shook him awake, 'Hey Dean, I think I've found something!' His eyes were bright with excitement._

_Dean lifted his head. Sleepy, 'Okay, hit me with it.' _

'_So I'm reading the Bible, all about Moses. And apparently when he died God buried him. Hid his body. Now get this, it looks like scholars and archaeologists and pretty much anyone with a shovel have been trying to locate his bones for centuries. I mean, imagine the significance of such a historical find. But according to this passage, God hid them so well that nobody knows where his body was hid.'_

'_Why would God hide this Moses dude's bones?'_

'_I don't know. But there's more. Over in the New Testament there's a passage that says blah blah blah…"the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses…" so apparently it's not only historians who are interested in finding Moses' bones. Even the devil wants them. And it looks like Michael knows where they are.'_

'_Wow.' Dean said, rubbing his eyes. 'That's fascinating but I don't get it. What does this have to do with springing Michael and the throne of God?' _

_Sam shrugged, 'Well if there's anything else you can remember maybe that would help.'_

_Dean put his head in his hands, searching his brain. 'Uhh, they said that something named Ophan was the biggest obstacle.'_

'_Huh.' Sam said. 'Ophan?'_

The angels shouldn't have been able to find them. Cas had put Enochian symbols on their ribs and told them that would keep the angels away. But here the angels were and they had found their location. Last thing Dean wanted was an angel show down.

Dean didn't know how they would manage to come out on top if it came to that. Game plan at the moment: Avoid the angels. It wasn't like they still had the Michael sword. Cas had that. Speaking of Castiel. The bastard. Where was he? How many times had Dean tried to call him but still Cas didn't show.

They were driving 70 mph, no destination in mind. Sam looked behind them. "Oh crap." There was an angel running after the car. Keeping pace. Probably not even running as fast as he could. And then another one joined him.

Dean looked at Sam and grinned, "Do you think we can outrun them?" He gunned the car.

**TBC**


	5. Chapter 5  Angels on My Shoulder

**Story So Far: Sam and Dean are killed while hunting a rugaru and find themselves in Heaven. One week later, Sam and Dean wake up to find themselves on earth but in the wrong bodies. Oh, and Dean finds that he can hear angelic conversations and sense the angels' presence when they try to ambush the brothers at their motel room.  
><strong>

**Rating: T for mild language and mild violence. **

**Author's Note: There is something to be said about waiting to publish a story until you have all of the chapters written- lol! During a short, forced break from writing this story I was thinking about Dean's character and how I was having him react to the whole body switch thing with Sam and I think Dean's reaction was out of character. If Dean were to switch bodies with Sam, I think he would treat Sam's body with the utmost respect (oh my word, that sounds so much more gay than I meant it! :P) He's very protective of Sam and I don't think he'd do anything to harm Sam's body. Whereas before, in this story, I was having Dean be all careless, you know his typical "live it up today for tomorrow we die" attitude, treating Sam's body in the same manner in which he'd treat his own. So anyway, I bring this up because I went back in the story and added a paragraph in chapter 3 (when they're in the diner) and I deleted a sentence from Chapter 4 to go along with this new perspective. It's nothing major, but I plan to reference it later on in this story so I thought I'd make note of it.**

**Feel free to review- I'd love to hear what you guys think, good or bad :)**

How do you evade angels? Dean had evaded cops, angry boyfriends, ghosts, vampires, and demons. But angels were another story. And attempting to outrun them was just laughable. In a car a little bit more doable. Not that an angel couldn't keep up but they tend to like to keep a low profile so when a cop spotted Dean driving the Impala at speeds that were closing in on 90mph the angels vanished. That was when Dean's experience in outrunning cops came in good use.

They drove for hours until neither one knew where they were. Only thing they knew was that they were no longer in Ohio. They had left most of their possessions at their previous motel room, meaning everything except for the clothes on their backs, the arsenal in their trunk, their cell phones and Sam's laptop. Finally Sam had begged Dean to pull over somewhere, anywhere, so they could get something to eat. Dean had agreed to pull over after Sam had threatened to puke all over the Impala, sick from hunger.

They had found a bar out in the middle of nowhere. Dean thought maybe he'd play some pool, earn himself a little bit of cash. There was a game going on already so he stood on the sidelines and watched. Assessing the skill of the players and who he'd be able to take on. It wasn't much of a game. The one player, "Fish" as some members of the crowd that had gathered to watch were calling him, was obviously a hustler. The other dude, a college student, was probably pretty good at the game among his frat buddies but it was obvious he was in way over his head with Fish. The game didn't last too much longer, the frat boy paid up and left the bar in disgust.

Dean leaned over to the man standing next to him, "Fish, that's what they call him, right? So what's his deal?"

The man shrugged, "Don't know. Never seen him before. But he seems to know what he's doing."

Dean nodded, "Sure does."

Hustling a hustler. The kind of challenge Dean loved.

Dean studied Fish's moves. The way he handled the cue. The angles at which he shot the balls. He was good. But not as good as his opinion of himself. He was a small time hustler and Dean could take him. Easily.

Dean walked over to the pool table with Sam. Played a round of the game. Poorly. He could see Fish watching him. Trying to gauge how easily he'd be conned. Dean successfully executed a few semi-difficult shots. Nothing fancy but enough to bait Fish. Make the game interesting for him.

Sam let Dean win against him. Sam laughed good naturedly, "Well, bro, that's enough for me." Put his cue back, went back to the bar and ordered another drink.

Fish walked over to Dean, a smile on his face, "Hi there. The name's Jim. Everybody calls me Fish."

"Fish? Where'd you get a name like that?"

Fish laughed, "Long story."

Dean grinned, shook his hand, "Watched you play pool. You're pretty good."

Fish smiled, "Hey you're pretty decent yourself. In fact, I think you could probably give me a run for my money."

"Really?" Dean asked, the false expression of pleased surprise on his face was brilliantly convincing.

"Yeah, playing a few rounds against you would be a challenge. Haven't had a good challenge in a long time!"

Sam pulled Dean aside, whispering but loud enough for Fish to hear, "No, Dean. You really shouldn't. You've had a few to drink. It's getting late and that guy's a pro."

Dean shook him off. "Shut up Sammy. I've got this."

"You know," Fish interjected, "We don't have to bet too much. How about $25?"

"Twenty-Five dollars?" Dean laughed, "Make it $50."

"Alright then. We have a bet."

Sam loved watching Dean hustle. He was completely in his element. He could play the fool to perfection. The cocky son of a bitch who had a little bit of talent but not enough to get him far. Fish let Dean win the first game. Dean had been right about Fish's skill level. He was not as good a hustler as he thought he was. He let Dean win but he let him win too easily. Missing easy shots that anyone with his admitted level of expertise should have made. Dean on the other hand, played his role to perfection. Won the round like a beginner who wasn't given much competition. Avoiding the expert moves that he knew, careful to avoid revealing his true skill.

Fish grinned, "Damn. I'm impressed. Good game, but don't think I'd let you repeat it!" Fish was baiting him, Dean took the bait. The stakes were higher this time and Dean won again, he was getting cockier and Fish was pretending to get more desperate to win his money back. Sam kept "urging" his brother to pull out while he was ahead but Dean would hear none of it.

They played several more games, Dean winning easily in the beginning but now Fish was in it to win, playing into Dean's plan to continue acting the fool for a little while longer. Up the stakes and up Fish's confidence level, make him comfortable, get him off his guard.

It was getting late, Sam was getting tired and Dean was running out of money to bet with. Dean knew it was time to put an end to the game.

Sam pulled Dean aside for show, "Okay, Dean. Enough is enough. Just cut your losses and call it a night."

Dean's eyes were panicked, "No freakin' way! I can't quit now. I gotta win back that money!"

_Damn, he's convincing _Sam hid a laugh."No! You can't win, don't be a fool Dean!"

Dean turned back to Fish, "One more game." Dean named the bet.

"Let me see the money." Fish stipulated.

"Sure." Dean dug into his pockets, flipped through his wallet. The rest of his money wasn't there. A sharp intake of breath. He had left the money in the pocket of his jacket which was still in the motel room in Ohio.

"Damn. Dude. I'll write you a check."

Fish shook his head, "Sorry, gotta have something I can see. If you don't have the cash I'm gonna need collateral."

Dean joked nervously, "No need for that. I'll win it back anyway."

Fish frowned, "Dude. Listen to your brother. Cut your losses or give me some collateral."

Dean was silent for a few moments. He knew he could win against Fish but Fish wasn't going to accept the promise of money, sight unseen. Dean's palms were sweaty, he only had one thing he could offer as collateral, "Alright." He paused, barely able to get the words out, "my car."

Fish grinned, went to the door of the bar and looked outside, "Which one is it?"

"The '67 Impala."

Fish whistled through his teeth, "Good looking car there. Good shape too. You sure you want to part with it?"

Sam grabbed Dean's arm, stunned, for real this time. "Dude!" he hissed, "Are you freakin' serious? This is too big a risk!"

"Wow Sam. Your faith in me is touching."

"Dean, you're a good pool player but-"

"But nothing. Damn right I'm a good player."

"But what if you slip up? What are you thinking?"

"What am I thinking? I'm thinking that Fish is demanding to see money that I left back in Ohio. If I don't offer him some form of collateral, then he doesn't play and if he doesn't play I'm not getting our money back and I'm completely broke. I'm not going to lose. He's not that good of a player."

"Dean. If you screw up, we're out the money _and _our home. This may be a game to you but to me it's our life."

"Sam. Do you think I want to do this. You know what the Impala means to me. What can I do?"

Sam let go of Dean's arm and backed off, he was shaking with anger. "Whatever man. But don't forget, we lose more than just the car and our money if he discovers the arsenal in the trunk."

Dean nodded grimly. He understood the stakes. And he also understood that he performed best under pressure.

Dean walked up to the pool table, chalked his cue. "Let's get started."

_**Less Than a Week Ago**_

'_With Ophan guarding the throne of God,." Raphael said, 'There is no way that we can get to it.'_

_Malachim was pissed, 'Yes, but if we had Moses' bones Ophan would not be an issue. Michael is back, what is holding things up? You said that once you sprung Michael from Hell he'd lead us to the bones.'_

_A cough, 'I am right here,' it was Michael, 'If you have an issue with me, you can address it to me.'_

'_I don't think Michael is ready for such a huge position. Taking over the throne of God? I think it's too big for him to handle. He isn't even able to handle the small task of locating and digging up the bones of Moses!'_

'_I am right here.' Michael repeated._

'_Do you think that you are better qualified?' Raphael asked Malachim. His voice full of condescension. 'Michael has been around longer than any of us, and he is far more powerful than any of the other angels.'_

'_Okay, enough infighting. We all know that a house divided against itself cannot stand. After all that's how this whole civil war began!' Michael was angry. ' This is petty and ridiculous. We stand together or we don't stand at all.' he paused, 'Now here's the plan, and listen closely, nine days from today, on the first Sunday after the full moon, we create the spell then we storm the throne room, we destroy Ophan and take over the throne.' Michael turned to Raphael, 'Do we have the blood of a firstborn lamb and the grace of a cherubim?'_

'_Yes,' Raphael answered, 'everything is together. We are just waiting for the bones.'_

_Turning to Malachim, Michael said, 'I'm sure you understand the difficulties in recovering the bones. The success of this mission depends on the element of surprise. Castiel knows the location and if he suspects that we have the other elements necessary for the spell he will destroy the bones.'_

'_Well then why don't we obtain the bones now and remove that option from him?' Malachim said, his voice rising._

_Michael remained calm, 'We are going to do this mission right. The bones are not easily obtained. You know this well. They are currently under Castiel's watch. The only way we can get to them is if Castiel does not know of our plan. Failure is not an option'_

_Malachim, 'I say we kill Castiel'_

_'And we shall, but not until after we have the bones. You know the plan, stick to the plan!'…_

… _Dean woke up. Sam was looking at him with concern on his face. It had happened again, and this time he'd heard more than he knew how to deal with._

Fish had let Dean have the break shot.

Dean, "Give me some space here, you're cramping my style." Fish was hovering.

Sam realized he wasn't breathing. He hated Dean right now for getting into this situation. He couldn't believe how careless Dean had been.

All of the balls had been pocketed, it was Fish's turn, only the 8 ball remained, if he pocketed it he won the game. Fish called his shot, it was an easy shot. Dean and Sam held their breath as he chalked his cue. He seemed to be drawing out the tension. Finally he went for it. Missed.

Now it was Dean's turn, he called his shot. Sam watched Dean, he was about to take the shot when his face twisted in pain, he slumped down on the pool table, his head in his hands. "Gaah!" He groaned.

"Dean!" Sam exclaimed running to his side, "Come on Dean, talk to me! Are you alright?"

"No." He moaned, "My head." He barely got the words out.

Another one of the headaches.

Fish stood there pissed, "Does he think he can get out of the deal this way? The bet still stands! He finishes that shot and if he can't then he forfeit's the game. I get the money and the car."

Sam felt like punching the guy. The money which had been wagered sat in a pile on the bar, Sam grabbed it, counted out Dean's money and handed the rest back to Fish. "Here's your money back. If you want the rest, you're going to have to go through me." He straightened to his full height. Which wasn't as tall as Dean was at the moment but still could be intimidating if he tried. Fish was not a large man but he wasn't planning on backing down because of it.

"My fight isn't with you." He hissed, "My fight is with your brother."

Dean was sitting in a chair with his head in his hands, he stood up, as Fish came lumbering towards him, "You trying to cheat me out of my winnings? I don't let people get away with that! You pay up or I'm going to rearrange your face!"

Dean winced, "Okay man, I understand. I'll finish the game."

"No!" Sam exclaimed, "You can barely stand!"

"Sit down, Sammy." Dean said quietly, walking back to the pool table and picking up the cue stick. It was an impossible shot, but Dean called it. Sam's heart sank, there was no way he could make it.

Fish's jaw dropped- Dean shot the 8 ball into the pocket beautifully. He stood there sputtering. How had the man done that?

After collecting his winnings Dean was led to the car with the aid of Sam, overwhelmed with pain.

* * *

><p>The headache had mysteriously passed.<p>

Dean and Sam sat on top of the Impala in the parking lot of their motel room.

"Is it safe to be out here?" Sam asked, "Outside. Here in the open. Maybe it would be safer inside"

Dean shook his head, "Nah, if they're gonna find us it doesn't matter where we are. A door is only a minor inconvenience." He sighed. "We just have to keep moving. We've lost them for now but they'll find us again."

"Well so much for those Enochian symbols of Cas'."

Foolishly or not, considering that they had angels hot on their trail, at the moment Dean didn't want to think about how the angels had found them. Amidst all the chaos that was their lives, he just wanted to soak in the calm. Soak in the quiet. For just a few moments longer.

But finally Dean looked over at Sam, "Does the name Ophan mean anything to you?'

Sam raised an eyebrow, "Um, no. Should it?"

Dean shrugged, "I don't know. It just came to me."

"Did you hear one of the angels say it?"

"Yeah, but I kind of recognize the name. Like I should remember it but I don't."

"You want me to look it up on my laptop for you?"

"You don't have to do it right now. It's a nice evening. Have another beer." He motioned towards the cooler with his head. Sam grinned and grabbed another.

Finally Dean said quietly, "Do you think I'm going crazy?"

Sam laughed, "Why? Because you're hearing angels? I'm really in no position to judge!"

They both laughed. Dean looked over at Sam. Damn, he missed Sam. Yeah, it was Sam sitting next to him but he missed Sam's laugh, the way Sam rolled his eyes at his stupid comments and he missed Sam's voice. He hadn't known that he could get so sick of looking at his own face. What if they could never get this mess straightened out? He refused to entertain such thoughts.

Sam, "I wonder where Cas is. Do you think he's pissed at us too?"

Dean shrugged, "Hell, I hope not. If he is, we are so screwed."

* * *

><p>Silence. Sam had stopped snoring since this body switch. Dean had wondered if he'd be able to fall asleep without it. He had flipped channels on TV for several hours with the sound turned down while waiting to fall asleep. After that he had tossed for about two more hours until finally when he wasn't looking, sleep came.<p>

Unfortunately that wasn't all the came. At 4:13am, Dean was awoken by something watching him, he sensed it before saw it.

**TBC**


	6. Chapter 6 Fear

**Story So Far: Sam and Dean were killed, went to heaven where they uncovered the angels' plot against the throne of God, one week later they awake to find that Sam is Dean and Dean is Sam and they have no recollection of the past week. Dean is hearing angels and getting terrible migraines whenever angels are closing in on them and they don't know why the angels are chasing them. Dean and Sam are beginning to remember things.**

**Rating: T for mild language and violence.**

**A/N: I had a really hard time with this chapter- hope it turned out well! Please review!**

Running. His legs were like lead or as if he were trying to run through water. Something was chasing him. His lungs were burning, he stopped to catch his breath and looked behind him. Several more had joined the chase. Gaining on him. "Dean!" he cried out. He looked around, he was in an open field, surrounded by bones that had been bleached white by the sun, It looked like it had been a battlefield at some point. There were Dean's bones at his feet. He didn't know how he knew they were Dean's bones. Horrified. He opened his mouth to scream but nothing came out. He had to keep going, he couldn't stop now. He was hugging something to his chest. It was a black plastic garbage bag and inside were bones. They were of vital importance. He couldn't let his pursuers get their hands on them. "Castiel!" He screamed. Suddenly the earth gave way underneath him and he was tumbling. Falling, falling, falling. There was no way he was going to survive this. He landed on the ground, on his back. He felt dazed but strangely unhurt.

He was staring straight up at the sky when his view was obscured by Balthazar, "Do you have the bones?"

Sam looked down at his hands, where he still clutched the bag. He opened it up and looked inside. They were gone. Balthazar was screaming at him, "You lost Moses' bones! You bastard! Now Ophan and Castiel are going to die!"…

…Sam woke up with a start. His sheets were soaked through with sweat. He looked over to where Dean was lying. Someone or something was hovering over Dean as he slept.

_Was summoning Cas easier or more difficult in Heaven? One would think it would be easier since one's prayers didn't have as far to go but neither Sam nor Dean had ever tried it before so they had no way of knowing. _

'_Dear Castiel,' Dean prayed, 'We gotta talk. It's important so if you don't get your ass down here don't say we didn't try to warn you.' Dean raised his head and looked around. Nothing._

'_Come on! Show yourself Cas!' Dean shouted to the wind. _

'_I don't think he's coming.' Sam said, resigned. 'You know we tried Dean, but this is Heaven's problem. We can't force Castiel to come.'_

_Dean set his jaw, Sam was right, it was Heaven's problem but he'd be damned if he didn't try to give Cas a little bit of help after all he'd done for the brothers. Besides, it could very well become earth's problem as well. The thought of what Michael might do if he managed to claim God's throne, what he would do with that kind of power scared the crap out of Dean. Besides, Cas' life was in danger and Cas was not going to die as long as Dean had any say in the matter._

'_Cas!' He shouted, louder this time. He would scream until he was hoarse if that's what it took to get Cas' attention. They both turned around at the sound of feathers behind them. But it wasn't Castiel._

'_Where's Cas?' Dean demanded._

_The angel put his fingers to the brother's foreheads and everything went black._

Two eyes were staring at him in the dark. Dean reached for the knife under his pillow but whatever it was grabbed his arm, twisting it around his back. Dean tried to shout for Sam but a hand was placed roughly over his mouth. He struggled against it but the strange entity had unbelievable strength.

"Shh." It whispered, "I come in peace! If I had wanted to harm you I would have killed you while you slept!"

Dean's eyes were adjusted to the dark, but still he could not make out distinct features. However, it wasn't necessary. Even in the dark, once he stopped struggling, he could tell it was an angel. The angel removed his hand from Dean's mouth.

"Son of a bitch!" Dean exclaimed hoarsely. "What do you want with me?"

"I have come to warn you of impending danger. The other angels do not know that I am here. You must leave quickly, they know where you are and they are making haste to kill you even ask we speak."

Dean sat up and flipped on the light by the bedside, he winced at the bright light. He regarded the angel uneasily, "Why are you telling me this?"

"My true loyalties do not lie with Raphael or Michael. You are a friend of Castiel's. I know that if he could, he would be here himself. Hurry- you are running out of time. You must leave now!"

Dean could feel his heart pounding, here was someone who could give them answers, "Wait," he grabbed onto the angels arm, as if he could somehow keep him from leaving, "why do Michael and Raphael want to kill us?"

Wait. Michael? Wasn't Michael in the cage with Lucifer?

"Raphael and Michael suspect my allegiance, there are things that they do not tell me."

The angel vanished. One moment the angel was there and the next moment Dean was wondering if it had all been a dream.

Dean looked over at Sam who had seen and heard the entire thing, "What do you say we get the hell out of here?"

_One moment they were standing in an open field, the next moment everything went black and when they opened their eyes they were in a small, dimly lit room. The carpeting was a warm scarlet color, slatted blinds let in a minimum amount of light, in the one corner by a bookshelf was a single lamp and in another corner was desk and a leather chair with a man seated in it. _

_'Dude,' Dean whispered to Sam, 'where are we? This looks like something out of the freakin' Godfather!' _

_The man behind the desk rose to greet them, 'Well, well. Dean and Sam. Finally we meet. I have heard so much about you from my dear brother in arms, Castiel.' _

_He walked towards them, grasped their hands in a warm handshake. Dean opened his mouth to speak but the man interrupted him, his manner was brusque, "Let's get to the point, shall we? I know what you are thinking. 'Where are we?' 'How did we get here' 'Who is he?' and 'Where is Castiel?'' He chuckled before continuing, 'I'm Sachiel. As to where you are, you might say these are Castiel's 'headquarters', this is my office.' He indicated with a wave of his hand. 'As for Castiel, I'm sure he's mentioned to you before, this war has been absolute chaos for him and it seems everybody wants a piece of him. You have absolutely no idea how many prayers come through for him every day. As you can imagine, he is only one angel and he cannot possibly be everywhere and do everything at once. So, here I am. What can I do for you boys?"_

_Dean wasn't going to entrust his message with an angel who looked like he could be related to Marlon Brando. His voice was icy, 'We have an important message for Cas, we need to speak to him. So if you want to help, please tell him to get his ass here.'_

_ "Hmm, I could have sworn that I just heard myself tell you that Castiel is not available. If you have anything of import to tell Castiel, it goes through me."_

_'Oh trust me, it is of import and we only speak to Cas."_

_Sachiel smiled, "Well in that case, I'm sorry to cut this meeting short but there is nothing I nor Castiel can do for you, I will send you back to where you were came from. Good day boys."_

_He reached to touch their foreheads when Sam interrupted him, "Wait," he said, backing away, "if we give you the message, how can we be sure that Cas will receive it?" _

'_Samuel, I am Castiel's right hand man, it is part of my job description to take down messages for him,' he smirked, there was a note of sarcasm in his voice, 'I have a job and I do it well.'_

_Sam turned to Dean, 'We don't have much choice,' he whispered._

_Dean felt uncomfortable, but Sam was right, he took a deep breath, 'Well… tell Cas that as crazy as it sounds, I've been hearing angels. I've heard that Michael, Raphael and some of their uh, angel buddies are planning to waste Cas and take over the throne of God. I guess they're gonna do this by wasting some dude called… Ophan. Oh and tell Cas that he should keep an eye on Moses' bones because they're coming after those too.'_

_Sachiel raised an eyebrow, his tone steely, 'Why should Castiel take your word for any of this?'_

_Dean narrowed his eyes, 'That is not of "import"'_

_Sam snorted._

_Sachiel, 'I have no reason to trust you. Why should I believe that what you are saying is true? Perhaps you are just wasting Castiel's and my time.'_

_Dean laughed angrily, 'You know what? I don't' give a crap whether you believe me or not. You son of a bitch- your civil war is no concern of mine. I have no reason to lie and I'm beginning to think that I have no reason to care which side wins or loses- you can all go to hell for all I care!'_

_Sachiel, 'Dean, Dean, you arrogant bastard. You think that just because you and your brother defeated Lucifer and averted the apocalypse, Heaven's angels are now your bitch? We're here to jump at your command, roll over and play dead?' _

_Sachiel turned his back to the brothers and walked towards the window. He reached his hand in his pocket, fingered the cold blade of the dagger which was concealed there. He sighed heavily. The clock on the wall marked the passage of several minutes before he slowly turned around. His hand curled around the handle of the knife still hidden. _

'_You fragile little humans,' he hissed, 'You heard things that you would have been wise to have kept quiet about. Do you understand what I can do to you? Do you understand how completely helpless you are against me? Do you understand that with one flick of my wrist, I could snap every single bone in your body?' A laugh, 'You puff yourselves up so high, after all you were God's most precious creation. Isn't that so? But where is God now? He abandoned you! You worthless piece of crap. You make me sick! You go around, screwing with destiny, creating chaos and confusion wherever you go. You couldn't be content with just screwing your own planet to hell, now you have to come and screw up mine! I will not let you screw up Heaven too. ' _

_Sachiel was blindingly fast, Sam and Dean barely saw the dagger coming, Sam grabbed his arm , knocking the dagger from his hands. Sachiel flung him against the wall, his body slamming into the bookcase, books tumbling down on his head, knocking him senseless. Sachiel had been right. They were helpless against him. _

_Sachiel turned towards Dean, 'Have you ever considered how easy it is to kill a human? Oh it is. Very easy. I have only had a few opportunities to do so, but I think about it. Oh yes, I think about it a lot.' he laughed, 'How many ways to kill a human? Let me count the ways.' he smirked, he placed a hand on Dean's shoulder. Dean's stomach and lungs felt like he had swallowed a thousand razors. Coughing, Dean gasped for air, the coughs racked his body, tearing up his lungs. Blood. His knees gave way, collapsing to the ground writhing on the floor in agony. Trying to breathe. Sachiel knelt down beside him, 'I could end you now,' he whispered into his ear, 'or I could let you die slowly.'_

'Twenty, twenty, twenty four hours to go I wanna be sedated Nothin' to do, no where to go, oh, I wanna be sedated Just get me to the airport put me on a plane Hurry, hurry, hurry before I go insane I can't control my fingers, I can't control my brain Oh oh, I wanna be sedated'

Dean sang along to The Ramones, looking over at Sam every couple minutes with a grin- his headache apparently gone. But still Sam had refused to let him drive.

Sam rolled his eyes as Dean rewound the cassette to replay the song… he gave Sam a nudge, "Come on Sammy, sing along! It's a great song!"

"Yeah, whatever Dean. Don't press your luck. After all, house rules. I'm the driver."

"Have you heard the lyrics Sam? They're great lyrics!"

"Great lyrics? 'I can't control my fingers… I can't control my toes?" Sam laughed, "Dude, they were stoned when they wrote it."

"Dude! You can't say things like that, Sammy! You have me at a disadvantage, every time I go to smack that smartass mouth of yours I ask myself, 'do you really want to damage that fine packaging there Dean?'"

Sam had to laugh at that.

Dean chuckled and pressed the rewind button again. Third time. Now he was just doing it to annoy Sam.

No, Dean was just trying to cope. Dean sang along to the music because he hated the silence. If he listened to music, if he listened to Sam talking, he didn't have to hear the fear in his head. Fear like an ocean, it's waves grabbing hold of him and dragging him under. Trying to drown him. Fear of the angels _You can't run from them forever. _Fear that they were stuck in each other's bodies forever _Damn, I'm so tired of looking at my freakin' face. What if Cas is pissed at us too? _Fear of the angel voices in his head _What happened that I'm now hearing angels? What kind of freak am I becoming? _Fear of losing Sam again. He still remembered what the demon had said. It was seared in his brain. _What if the wall breaks, what if I lose him again. I can't handle that. I can't._

Dean had called Bobby. Dragged him out of bed.

"What the hell is so damn important that it couldn't wait till morning?"

"Uh, angels are chasing us."

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you right. I thought I heard you say that angels were chasing you."

"Yeah Bobby, that's what you heard."

Bobby sighed, was about to speak when Dean interrupted him, "Don't ask Bobby, I have no idea why they want to kill us. We've already been chased from two motels by them. We were just wondering if we could crash with you. I'm hoping they won't find us in your panic room."

"Yeah, sure Dean. But you've got a lot of talkin' to do when you get here."

* * *

><p>At Bobby's house, they sat around his table, drinking coffee. It was early in the morning. None of them really wanted to be awake at this hour but none of them really felt like sleeping. Dean had caught Bobby up to speed on what had been going on with the angels for the past 24 hours.<p>

It was obvious that Bobby was uncomfortable talking with the brothers being the way they were at the moment. Several times he would address things meant for Sam to Dean. And he still seemed a bit reluctant to believe that it was anything other than a joke. Not accepting it until he had tested them by asking Dean questions that only Dean would know and vice versa.

Bobby hadn't had any answers for them. But on the wall he'd painted a warding symbol which he had learned from Cas to keep the angels away. At least they'd be safe for now. But it was only a temporary solution.

Bobby, "So you remembered the name 'Ophan'?"

Dean nodded, "Yeah, and Sam here was telling me about a dream he had. He thinks it might have something to do with what's going on."

Sam explained the dream, explaining his theories about Ophan and Castiel. "I think if we find out who Ophan is and what the significance of Moses' bones are, I think maybe we can figure out why the angels are after us."

"Also," Dean added, "I think Michael is back."

**TBC**


	7. Chapter 7 Yellow Brick Road

**Rating: T for mild language and violence**

**Story so Far: Sam and Dean die and go to Heaven where they discover plot by Michael and Raphael to overtake the throne of God, try to find Castiel to warn him but he's missing and his 'right hand man' is really a double agent (or would that be a 'double-angel'? Sorry, that was lame :P) One week later, Sam and Dean wake up to find they've switched bodies and angels are chasing them. **

**Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who's stuck with the story this long! And everyone who's commented, favorited, etc., I love you guys- you're my friends forever! :P The story is beginning to wrap up, maybe two more chapters left. And maybe an epilogue. **

**Please Review! ****:)  
><strong>

_**Less than a Week Ago**_

_Sachiel knelt down beside Dean, 'I could end you now,' he whispered into his ear, 'or I could let you die slowly.'_

_Stupid, stupid, stupid! Since when had he ever just took what an angel told him at face value. When an angel said, 'Trust me', since when did he just buy that without a question?_

_He tried to sit up, fighting with every thing that he had against the force that was keeping him pinned to the ground._

_More coughing. Coughing up so much blood. Hemorrhaging. He turned his head to where Sam lie. Sam lay there, half sitting up, half curled into a fetal position, face ash white, agony in his eyes that went beyond the physical. Helpless to do anything to stop what was happening to his brother._

_He wondered what happened to souls that died while in Heaven. _

_It all happened so fast. Sachiel raised his arm, ready to plunge a dagger through Dean's heart. Dean couldn't quite see what happened next but he could put the pieces together. Sachiel's eyes widened, a sharp gasp, his eyes flashing bright and then white light, blinding. Painful. And then Sachiel slumped over on top of Dean. Pinning him under his limp, massive body. But it didn't matter. Dean had stopped choking on his own blood._

_Dean couldn't see who his savior was. He was still seeing white spots in front of his eyes and after being blinded by Sachiel's grace leaving his vessel, everything else seemed dark. It didn't matter, he just reached gratefully for the hand that was extended to him._

_Standing was more difficult than he had expected. He felt drained. Of everything. As his eyes began to adjust to the dimness of the room, he saw a man he didn't recognize. Most likely an angel._

_The angel spoke with a hushed urgency, 'Nothing and no one is as they seem around here. Do not trust anyone. Not even me.' He glanced furtively around him, lowered his voice so that only Dean and Sam could hear him and only then if they leaned in closely, 'If your message for Castiel is a matter of life or death I suggest that you find him and give it to him or Ophan in person. Castiel's location is not known by many but I suspect that he is with Ophan at the throne of God.'_

'_Wait,' Dean said, 'Who is Ophan and where is the throne of God?'_

_The angel looked surprised by Dean's ignorance, 'You really don't know anything, do you? Ophan is the guardian of God's throne. He is nearly as powerful as God himself and it is nearly impossible to kill him. In fact, there is only one spell in existence that can render him powerless. Look, it won't be long before Sachiel's body is discovered and you need to be out of here before that happens. You will find God's throne by following the road. Just keep going. You will know it when you see it.'_

_He reached his hands forward and zapped them back to their Impala. Back to the road that would lead them to God's throne. _

Coffee. Dean needed more. Actually he needed some whiskey. He sighed, looked over at Sam. Not today.

"Just hook me up to an IV and I'll be good to go," he'd told Bobby after Bobby had warned him that his coffee consumption was going to burn a hole in his stomach.

His head hurt. Not the weird, 'Angels are around', headache that he'd been having the past 24 hours. This was from sheer exhaustion and lack of sleep. Even the coffee had ceased to help. His eyes were bleary from hours of reading tiny print in gigantic books that spewed dust when you did nothing more than just breathe on them. He hated research. He looked over at Sam who was utterly absorbed in whatever he was reading, wide awake and alert, drinking nothing stronger than vitamin water. Right now he hated Sam too.

He slammed his book shut. Sighed. Rubbed his eyes. He had discovered nothing. Dean gathered that Ophan was kind of like Chuck Cunningham from Happy Days. The older brother no one ever remembered or spoke of.

"Well, I got nothing. How about you Sammy?"

Sam's eyes were bright, Dean recognized the look as the one he always got whenever he was researching- like a child on a treasure hunt, "Well, here's what I found out about Moses' bones. You're going to love this. Apparently, if you take one of the metacarpal bones from Moses, with the grace of a cherubim and the blood of a firstborn lamb you can create a spell that's powerful enough to turn even God into a mere mortal, rendering him vulnerable to any form of weapon."

"Huh," Dean scratched his head and rose to look over Sam's shoulder, "That's some powerful stuff there but none of it's ringing a bell for me. If what you're saying is true, I can see why God would want to hide Moses' body but I don't get what this has to do with Ophan or why the angels are pissed at us. And, it doesn't make any sense. Why would they want to kill God? God's not really around. I'm trying to connect the dots here but I think most of the dots are missing. "

Sam shrugged, "Maybe they don't intend to use the spell on God."

Bobby looked up from his book, "I think Sam's onto something, I found out some lore on the angel Ophan… looks like he guards the throne of God."

Dean and Sam looked at each other, Dean spoke, "So you think they want to kill Ophan and take over God's throne?"

This theory was as good as any.

It made sense. It's not like they had a lot of information to work with. Just that an angel named Ophan's life was in danger, Michael was back in town, the angels wanted to kill Sam and Dean, and Balthazar hadn't wanted Michael and Raphael to get their hands on Moses' bones.

"Oh crap." Dean whispered. His body was tensed.

"Oh no," Sam looked at Dean questioningly, "Not another headache?"

Dean nodded as he buried his head between his knees. Sam rushed to his side, dropping to his knees beside him, he asked, "Dean, I thought you got the headaches when the angels were nearby!"

Dean grunted in affirmation.

Sam turned to Bobby, "Bobby, I thought that warding symbol would keep the angels away!"Bobby shrugged, "Well, as far as I know it will keep the angels out of the house but that doesn't mean they can't find you."

Sam ran to the window, pushed aside the curtains, "Oh crapcrapcrap!" He muttered, "There are dozens of them out there. They're surrounding the place."

_"So we just follow the yellow brick road which will lead us to the wizard and if you remembered to bring your ruby slippers maybe we can get our asses zapped back to Kansas!"_

_Sam laughed, "Yeah, that's about it."_

_Dean looked over at Sam and grinned, "Maybe if we're lucky we'll run into Glinda!"_

_Sam "Oh come on, don't tell me you had a 'thing' for Glinda!"_

_"Hell yeah!"_

_Sam shook his head in amused disbelief._

_Dean, "Wait, we are both talking about the porn version, right?"_

"_I'm going to have to listen to your lame Wizard of Oz jokes for the rest of the trip, aren't I?"_

'_Probably.' _

_The drive was incredibly long. They had no idea what to expect and with each mile that passed, the fear that the angel had been toying with them grew more intense. But seeing as they didn't have a whole lot of options they continued on the road. _

_They drove through the night. When Dean started drifting off to sleep he pulled the car over and Sam took over. Morning came and they continued driving. Finally around mid-morning they saw it in the distance. The angel had been right when he said they would know it when they saw it. Even from miles away it stood, shining brightly, impossible to miss. _

_It was indescribably amazing. Surreal. Overwhelming. The sprawling mansion seemed to go on forever, as far as the eye could see. Surrounded by a gate made of solid, pure gold. _

_Neither brother said a word. There was nothing to say. And their vocabulary was too limited to describe it. Every word they could think of seemed pathetically inadequate._

_Dean drove the Impala up to the gate, parked the car. Sam laughed nervously, 'I feel like I should take a shower or something before I even think about going inside!'_

_Dean slowly got out of the car and stared speechlessly at it for several moments before he said quietly, 'Wow. God really had it made here. Seriously dude, all this while people on earth go to hell in a hand basket? Doesn't seem right, ya know?'_

_There were several moments of silence and then Sam spoke, 'Why would he leave this? Why would he leave all of this to hide out on earth, especially with all the crap that's down there?'_

_Dean gave a short, bitter laugh, 'beats me!'_

_There were two gates, they slowly approached the larger of the two, but realized it was locked. One massive, angelic guard stood watch._

_It appeared that if they wanted to get in to see Ophan they were going to have to get past the guard but why the guard would ever let them through was beyond Dean. _

'_Hi there!' Dean smiled, friendly. 'Wow. This place is awesome. I'm impressed. You have a lot of people trying to break in? I'm sure they keep you busy around here!' _

_The guard seemed unimpressed with Dean's small talk. Dean, laughing nervously decided to get to the point, 'Look, I'm Dean Winchester, this is my brother Sam. We've got an urgent message for Ophan so if you don't mind, do you think you could open the gate for us? That would be great. Thanks.'_

_The guard shook his head, his only word, 'No.'_

_Dean shifted impatiently, tried to convey the urgency of their mission but the guard wasn't paying attention, he just kept shaking his head 'no'._

_Apparently it was going to be tougher for them to get past the guard at the gate than for Osama Bin Laden to get through airport security with a bomb strapped to his back._

_They went around to the other, less tightly guarded gate. Of course it was locked as well._

_Sam, 'How are we going to get in?'_

'_Don't worry Sammy, I got it.' Dean grinned as he pulled out his gun, ready to blow off the lock. _

_Sam laughed, 'Dude, you're going to need a bazooka to even make a dent in that thing!'_

_Dean chuckled, 'Yeah, but it's worth a shot!'_

_There was a slight clearing of a throat, 'Excuse me, put the gun away.' The voice was sharp but calm._

_Sam and Dean both nearly jumped out of their skin. It was the guard. _

'_Damn, you angels are stealthy!' Dean laughed nervously, wondering how he had gotten from the other gate as fast as he had._

_Dean tried again, 'Dude, we gotta see Castiel or Ophan!'_

'_Sorry, Castiel isn't here and Ophan doesn't receive visitors.'_

'_Aw come on, tell me that Ophan at least comes out onto his balcony every morning and waves to his fans!'_

_The guard was not amused, only repeated that Ophan didn't receive visitors._

_Dean was getting impatient, he had driven all night and all morning and was operating on very little sleep, 'Listen to me, you ass, if you don't let us in there, you're all going to die!'_

'_Is that a threat?'_

'_Take it how you wish, I don't give a crap. But we need to get in there, so move aside.'_

'_Dean!' Sam hissed, grabbing Dean's elbow and pulling him aside, 'You can't talk to him like that!'_

_Dean rolled his eyes, 'Come on Sammy, I think I know a little bit about strong arming my way into places like this!'_

'_Since when does being loud and rude get you what you want? Just shut up and let me do the sweet talking, okay?'_

_Dean shrugged, 'Sure . Not gonna work, but whatever man.'_

_Dean watched as Sam spoke to the guard. He couldn't hear what he was saying but he could see him pulling out all the stops. The pleading, the puppy dog eyes, the hand gestures. Didn't look like he was getting far._

'_Ha!' Dean exclaimed as Sam walked back, disappointed. 'Told you it wasn't gonna work!'_

_Sam glared, 'Yeah, well at least I didn't get us struck by lighting!' He sighed angrily, 'This is perfect. Now what are we going to do?' _

_Several minutes later he turned to Dean with a grin, 'Now would be the perfect time pull the old Trojan horse trick!' _

_Dean stared at him blankly, then his eyes lighting up, 'Wow! You just gave me a great idea!'_

'_Really?'_

'_Nah. Not really. I was lying.' He hit Sam across the head, 'stop being such a dumbass!' _

_Sam rolled his eyes, 'You're a jerk, man! At least I didn't try to shoot the padlock off Heaven's gate!'_

_Dean grinned, 'Watch this.'_

_Dean walked over to where the guard stood, Sam could see him talking for several minutes. He nodded, shook the guards hand and then turned around and started walking towards Sam, his shoulders slumped and his expression one of frustration but then a huge smile spread over his face, he reached into his pocket and dangled a key, 'Oh yeah baby, that's how you do it!'_

_Sam was incredulous, 'You didn't! Is that a key? How did you get it?'_

'_Secrets of the trade Sammy boy! Now let's go around back!'_


	8. Chapter 8 Guardian Angels

**Story So Far: Flashback: Dean and Sam are in Heaven, trying to warn Ophan about Raphael and Michael's plot to overtake God's throne. Current Time: Dean and Sam were chased by angels that seek to kill them from their second hotel room. Now they are hiding out at Bobby's and trying to figure out why the angels want to kill them.**

**Rating: T for language and violence**

**A/N: Sorry this has taken me so long to update- had a bit of writer's block. I've got the story all plotted out, it's just getting there that's the hard part!**

**A/N 2: Hilarious factoid about the last chapter- at one point Dean is singing along to a Ramones song. But in the first draft I had him singing to the Jefferson Airplane (later known as Jefferson Starship) song "Go Ask Alice". I changed it because it seemed a little too trippy for Dean. Lol! Then of course I saw "Mommy Dearest" and I had to laugh- I'm really glad I went with the Ramones instead! Anyway, not really important but I thought I'd share that :P **

**Please Review!**

_They hadn't really thought out a plan for what they'd do when they got there. If Dean had thought about it he just figured they'd walk in, walk up to Ophan and say something like, 'Hey there Chuckles, let me tell you about what Michael and Raphael are planning…' But the place was a lot more massive than they had pictured and hell, they didn't even know what Ophan looked like or where he was holed up. _

_They were skulking around, looking for the Throne Room. Whenever an angel would come into sight they would duck behind a random door, a large plant or whatever would hide them. Though strangely enough, seeing as it was the throne of God, there were surprisingly few guards. _

_Spotted by one of the guards, they ducked down a hall, jumped in a closet and waited for him to give up and leave._

'_Man, get off my freakin' foot!' Dean growled at Sam. 'Why do I have to be stuck in a closet with freakin' sasquatch?'. The minutes ticked by, they could still hear footsteps and heavy breathing outside the door._

_Dean shifted around trying to find a more comfortable position in the dark. This was awkward. His elbow connected to something hard. Sam's chest._

'_Ow!' Sam yelped, 'Good grief Dean, just cool it, ok?'_

'_Good one, Sam. Thanks for revealing our location to everyone within fifty miles of here. You're so damn loud.'_

_Sam placed his ear to the door, listened intently for any more footsteps. None came. Cracked the door open just a little, peaked his head out, and gave Dean the all-clear sign._

'_Do we even know where we're going?' Sam asked._

_Dean shrugged, 'Not really, but I was hoping it was another one of those, we'll know it when we see it, things.'_

_They crept along the hallway, trying not to alert anyone to their presence but their shoes were shockingly loud, echoing against the marble floors. The long corridor, that led God knows where, was unnervingly quiet, deserted. There were many doors along the hallway. What was behind them was anybody's guess. Any one of them could have been the door that led to the throne of God but to open the wrong one was to risk exposure. They needed some reason to suspect that it was the right door before they risked opening it. _

_If they were hoping for a big neon sign with flashing lights saying "This way to the Throne" or "Turn left, Throne Room Two Doors Down" they would be disappointed. In fact when they did find the room there really was nothing to set it apart. Other than the fact that the room had no door. _

_Dean peered cautiously through the doorway. There was Ophan. Standing guard. Dean didn't exactly know what he had expected Ophan to look like but this dude definitely wasn't it. Gentle looking. Slightly balding. And a little shady. Not exactly Chuck Norris or Sylvester Stalone, which was what Dean had been secretly hoping for._

'_Heh. He's not what I'd have pictured.' he turned to Sam with a smirk, 'I wouldn't trust him to guard the gift table at a kid's Chuck E Cheese birthday party!'_

'_Yeah, well looks can be deceiving. That's just his vessel."_

'_Seriously Sam, this is the freakin' throne of God. Angels are planning a full scale attack on it and this is all God could pull together to guard his throne while he's gone?'_

_They stood there silent for several moments until Dean spoke, 'Come on, we've been standing here for ten minutes and he still doesn't even know we're here? I'm surprised he doesn't have some kind of spidey-sense or something… I could totally have snuck up and stabbed him in the back by now!'_

_Sam rolled his eyes, 'Don't underestimate him, Dean. So what's the plan? Do we just walk in?'_

_Dean glanced at Sam and then back at Ophan, standing there seemingly unaware of the brothers' presence. 'I don't know,' he said turning to Sam, "Do you think there's some sort of angelic tripwire that will strike us with lightning if we go through the door?'_

_Sam shrugged, 'Maybe we should ask him if it's alright if we come in. Ya know, let him know we're here.'_

_Dean felt a rush of wind, and then a strong, iron arm around his neck, pulling tightly and jerking him back._

'_Oh trust me, 'he' knows you're here!' a soft voice, hissed angrily in Dean's ear. The man pulled his arm tighter around Dean's neck. It was Ophan._

_Dean felt like a fish, gasping for air, his throat crushed, face turning blue, 'Dude,' He said to Sam, 'Is there someone behind me?' he managed to choke out_

The angels were surrounding Bobby's house. Dozens of them, waiting till Dean and Sam either came out to play or stayed in there and eventually ran out of food and died of starvation_._

Dean was paralyzed with pain, lying on the floor in a fetal position. The proximity and number of angels made the pain so much worse. The pressure building behind his eyes. The voices in Dean's head were overpowering. High-pitched screeching, not letting up.

Bobby turned to Sam, eyes wide, "What's wrong with Dean?"

"He's been getting these headaches off and on, he thinks they have something to do with the angels."

He knelt beside Dean, draped Dean's arm over his shoulder and helped lift him up off the floor. Stood up, supporting Dean's full weight. His knees threatening to buckle under him. Sam grunted under Dean's weight, "Bobby, we need to get him somewhere, maybe the panic room? I don't know, but it's underground… maybe it will help with the pain."

Bobby nodded silently and helped Sam drag Dean downstairs.

Sam's idea seemed to work to a certain extent. While the migraine wasn't completely gone, at least Dean could function. And while Dean could still hear the angel's voices, they had quieted down significantly. It was more like he could hear the neighbors fighting through thin apartment walls, rather than having those neighbors screaming directly in his ears.

Dean lay on a cot at one end of the room, lifting his head up, he said weakly, "I was hearing the angels in Heaven too."

Sam and Bobby both looked at Dean in surprise, "What?" Sam asked, startled.

Dean rubbed his eyes, coming to a sitting position on the edge of the cot, "I just remembered that. And I overheard their conversation. Michael and Raphael had plans to find Moses' bones and create a spell to gank Ophan and take over God's throne."

"Wow." Sam said, "You remember all this?"

Dean nodded.

"So I guess our theory was pretty close."

"Yeah. But I remembered more. When we were in Heaven, we tried to warn Cas and Ophan but Michael and Raphael found out about it and tried to kill us."

"Well," Bobby said, taking his hat off and running his hand through his hair, "The good news is now we know the angels won't be hanging around forever."

"Huh?" Dean's request for Bobby to elaborate.

"Well, it gives us an idea of how long they're going to be hanging around. Holing us up here. Apparently they just want to keep you boys from squealing to Cas about the big plan. Once the plan is carried out they won't need to kill you anymore."

"Yeah. I guess so." Sam sighed.

Dean, "So what's the plan? We're locked up here and Cas is locked out there. What do we do? "

'_Huh. I gotta be honest here Sammy, I think Folsom did the whole prison thing better.'_

_Sam, 'Remind me again Dean, why we're doing this. Because honestly, I don't really give a crap about this pissing contest between Cas and Raphael.'  
><em>

_Who knew that Heaven had a prison system? Despite trying to talk to Ophan, explain who they were and why they were there, Ophan had had several guards drag them to a cell, kicking and screaming the whole way. He hadn't given a crap that they were "The great Winchester Brothers" who had averted the apocalypse and were tight with Castiel. They had broken into the throne of God. A crime that was apparently punishable by death. Now they were waiting to be brought before the Judgment Seat which God himself had presided over. Who knew who the new judge in town was now? _

_And they'd already been rotting in prison for several days, neither knew when the "trial" would be. Of course they'd be able to warn Ophan and Cas then, but perhaps it would be too late. They were running out of time._

'_Well, well, well. Look who the cat dragged in!'_

_They had been sitting there, sleeping when Balthazar startled them awake._

_The relief in Dean's eyes was obvious, 'Dude! We've been rotting in this jail for nearly a week, where've you been? And where's Cas?'_

'_Cas is a little preoccupied at the moment.' _

'_Are you gonna get us out of here?' Sam asked._

'_Of course, because that's my single purpose in life. To save the Winchester boys' asses.'_

'_Well, we've got a lot we need to talk to you about.' Dean said._

'_No time for chit chat. I'm here because you've got some seriously pissed off angels that want you dead. Personally, if it were up to me, I wouldn't give a crap but Cas sent me. So here I am. As if I have nothing better to do.'_

'_Wait Balt' Dean said, 'We really need to talk.'_

_Balthazar wasn't listening, 'Alright, party's over. I need to get you girls out of here.' _

_He turned to Sam, put his hand on Sam's forehead, 'Dean's festina corpus ad terrena vas Fronto' and Sam was gone._

_Dean was puzzled, _'_I'm a little rusty on my Latin but it sounded like you just called Sam "Dean"!'_

_But Balthazar was distracted, 'Shut up. They're closer than I realized. There's no time to fool around.' he hurriedly placed his hand on Dean's forehead and repeated the incantation, 'Sam's festina corpus ad terrena vas Fronto.' And zapped Dean back to earth._


	9. Chapter 9  Finis

**Story So Far: Sam and Dean have been to Heaven and back, chased by angels, switched bodies, and now the angels have caught up to them and they are trapped at Bobby's house.**

**Rating: T for mild language and perilous situations**

**A/N: This is the last chapter- thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited, and alerted! I hope you've enjoyed the story!**

**Please Review!**

How much time they had before the plan took place, before it was too late, before Castiel was killed and before Michael took over God's throne, that was something neither Dean or Sam could remember. Sam was researching, reading books on spells and angelic summoning and dispelling rituals, trying to find a way to get to Cas. Dean sat on his cot, head in hands, listening to the angels. Drinking whiskey. Sam had insisted.

Nobody spoke a word for nearly twenty minutes until Dean looked up startled, "What happened?"

Bobby and Sam looked at Dean, confused.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

Dean stood up and looked around, "It's silent. Where did they go?"

He ran up the steps towards a window, "Sam! Bobby!" he called. They had followed him up the stairs.

"Oh crap! They're gone!"

Sam's face was white, "That means they've carried out the spell, doesn't it?"

Dean, "I don't know." His jaw clenched. "They were talking and then there was nothing."

"Let's try to summon Cas, see if he's alright."

Dean turned around, ran out the door. Blinked at the bright sunlight, looked around. Nobody was there. No angels, nothing. The silence was unnatural. He closed his eyes, "Okay Cas, if you can hear me, we need you!"

He waited. Again, silence. He exhaled, he realized he hadn't been breathing.

"Dammit, come on Cas!" He shouted angrily.

Still nothing. His shoulders slumped in defeat. He didn't know why he had expected Cas to respond this time when they'd been pleading for him to come for the past two days. He wondered if this meant that Cas was dead.

Sam put his hand on Dean's shoulder.

He sighed heavily. Despair. Cas was either dead or ignoring them. Either way, the truth was obvious. Painful. The hope they'd both been clinging to for the past 48 hours was gone.

"Come on Cas." Dean whispered. Heartbreaking.

"Come on Dean, let's go back inside." Sam said quietly, Dean nodded. There was nothing left to do.

The sound of wings, a slight breeze.

They both turned around, there was Cas. Dean's eyes widened, "Cas!" Relief, confusion, anger.

"I'm sorry." Cas apologized, "I came as soon as I could."

"Cas? What the hell?" There were too many questions. Where to begin? "Where've you been? Thank God you're alright! We've been trying to get you for two days, why have you been ignoring us?"

Cas sighed, "They've been watching me. The angels haven't let me near you. I don't have much time before the angels come back. I worked a spell but it won't last much longer. They'll be returning soon."

Cas tilted his head to the side, staring at Dean, "Dean? Is that you?" It was an odd question, but of course, Dean wasn't exactly himself at the moment. "What happened?"

"Uh, we were kind of hoping you could tell us that!"

Cas pondered for a moment, "Balthazar. I had him send you two back to earth because the angels sought to kill you. He must have made a mistake, sent you back into the wrong bodies." He sighed, "Sometimes if you want things done right you have to do them yourself."

Sam, who hadn't said anything, interjected, "Can you fix us back?"

Cas nodded, placed his fingers on their foreheads. A buzzing sensation and then something that felt like a jolt of electricity left them unconscious.

When Dean regained consciousness, he was sprawled out on a chair. Sam was sitting across from him on one of Bobby's other chairs. Dean sat up slowly. Dizzy.

But things were back to normal. He wanted to laugh. Finally. Things were right.

Cas' face came into Dean's line of vision, he placed a hand on Dean's shoulder, "How do you feel? You were unconscious for nearly ten minutes." Concerned.

"I feel awesome." Dean grinned. But his relief turned to concern, "Cas, how did the angels find us? I thought we were hidden from the angels."

Cas nodded, "Yes, but when you were in Heaven, Ophan threw you two in prison. He branded you and put a tracking symbol on your souls." At Dean and Sam's look of astonishment Cas explained, "You broke into the throne of God, I wasn't around to explain things to Ophan. It is common procedure to brand prisoners so we can find them if they escape."

Sam and Dean just sat there, eyebrows raised, mouths open.

Cas continued, "I need to know, why did you break into the Throne and why do the angels want to kill you? They've been seeking to kill you since you were in Heaven…that's why I had Balthazar send you back to earth. I thought you'd be safer down here."

Sam explained to Cas all they had figured out and then Dean joined in and explained how he had overheard Michael and Raphael's plot. Relieved that they were able to hand the problem over to Castiel.

Cas' face was grim, "I am going to have to burn Moses' bones."

And then he disappeared.

Sam and Dean looked at each other. That was it?

* * *

><p>Dean and Sam had taken a few days to just recover. Taken some much needed rest. Dean didn't know whether or not he could still hear angel voices but it didn't matter because the angels were gone. Castiel had removed the tracking symbols from their souls so once again they were hidden from the angels. Including Castiel, but Cas knew how to get in touch with them and they him.<p>

Several days later they were on the road. They had found another hunt. Both were itching to get back to work. As much as they had needed the rest, they were both about to blow their brains out from boredom.

Driving in the Impala, Sam turned Dean's music down and turned to Dean.

"Dean, remember several weeks ago, before this whole angel mess… when we exorcised that Demon?"

Dean nodded warily, not exactly sure he wanted to talk about the demon.

Sam continued, "Do you remember what he said to me before we exorcised him? About that year when I was soulless?"

Dean was sure he didn't want to talk about this, "No. I'd forgotten about it and you should too."

Sam sighed heavily, "No, Dean. That's what I want to talk to you about. I'm not going to forget, in fact I'm going to look into what he said. I have to find out what I did."

Dean was stunned, for several moments, speechless, "No." Sharply. "No freakin' way. I'm not going to let you.' He kept his eyes fixed on the road. Not wanting Sam to see the panic in his eyes as he continued, "Dude, are you crazy? Maybe you don't remember what Death said about scratching that wall, but I do! Maybe you've forgotten what happened the last time you scratched it but I live in terror that it's going to happen again! No way. It's too dangerous!"

Sam sighed again, looking away, then spoke, desperate to make Dean understand, "You know what's more dangerous? Not knowing! Not knowing what is out there that wants to kill me. God knows what I did, Dean. I mean, if there's one thing that I learned this past week it's that sometimes the things that you don't know are more dangerous than what you do know."

Dean shook his head, his breath shallow. Mind reeling from panic, he felt like Sam was standing on the edge of cliff, about to jump and Dean couldn't stop him.

Sam continued softly, "Dean. Whatever is out there, whatever wants to kill me, it'll come after you too. I'm not going to let you get hurt because of what I did."

Dean looked at Sam surprised, "Sammy, I don't need you to protect me, I can watch out for myself!"

Sam looked down at his hands and then at his brother, tears in his eyes, "I know you can Dean. You're so strong. But you don't have to watch out for yourself with me around. I've got your back, Dean, and I always will."

There was a long silence. Sam thought Dean was angry. Until finally he spoke, so quietly, his voice tight with emotion, "Sammy, please don't do it." Pleading. "I need you. I don't know what I'd do if you left again. I barely survived the first time, I can't do it again. Please don't make me go through it all over again after I just got you back… listen, if something's gunning for you then we'll deal with it, together, as it comes, but please. For me. Don't do this."

He had said it._ I need you, Sammy_. And how could Sam refuse him anything when he put it like that?

THE END


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